Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu met with his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar here on Saturday and discussed the Adi Badri Dam project and the water cess issue.
According to the Haryana government's statement, Khattar said a detailed discussion was held on water and electricity issues, besides talks on some borders and roads. The Adi Badri Dam project, on which work would be started soon, was also discussed in detail during the meeting, Khattar said, adding that both states will benefit from this.
A discussion was also held regarding the imposition of a water cess by the Himachal Pradesh government. The burden of this cess will fall on the people of Haryana, Khattar said, adding that Himachal Pradesh cannot levy any cess on old projects.
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Last month, Punjab and Haryana had claimed the cess imposed under the HP Water Cess on Hydro Power Generation Act, 2023 is in violation of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956 and the state assemblies of the two states had also passed resolutions in this regard condemning the move.
Sukhu had last month clarified that the water cess would be levied only on the hydropower plants within their state. Himachal Pradesh Health Minister Col (Dr) Dhani Ram Shandil, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ramkumar, and Principal Private Secretary to Chief Minister, Vivek Bhatia, among others were also present on this occasion. Principal Secretary to Haryana Chief Minister, V Umashankar, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Amit Agrawal, Advisor to CM, Foreign Cooperation Department, Pawan Choudhary were also present.
